Turner 4 Life

My sister Rachael and I have been talking for some time now about getting tattoos. We were going to do it a couple of years ago and plans just never materialized.

A few months ago we began to kick around the idea again. But what to get? I mean, if you are going to ink something on your body for all of time then it better be something with some meaning, right? If were going to be tattooed on a whim, then I would have done it in the 80's when I was in high school. Then I would now be walking around with the name "Bon Jovi" on my chest, and a tramp stamp in the shape of "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince".

No, tattoos are serious business to me. I got my first one in 2007 when my son graduated high school. I designed it to represent him and I got inked in honor of him. I told myself I wouldn't do it again until my daughter graduated high school, but my sister convinced me otherwise. We decided a sister tattoo would be the way to go. I searched high and low for some sort of chinese or buddhist or egyptian symbol for sister. Yeah, they were all like 6 characters long. Not something we wanted. So we put it off some more and waited for the right inspiration.

Then these 2 knuckleheads got tattooed (love ya guys):

These are 2 of our 5 brothers. They both got "Turner" down the back of their arms. Obviously it is because that is our last name. Rachael and I decided this would be the perfect tattoos to get: "turner". Obviously we didn't want Old English lettering down the back of our arms. No offense boys, but not the most attractive thing on a lady (OK, you're saying "neither are tattoos in general". Whatever!)

Our brother Brett hooked us up with his buddies at Tattoo Faction in North Olmsted, OH. They were really cool and we are very pleased.

Do we look nervous? I was as cool as a cucumber. Remember, I have done this before. I was not nervous in the least. Rachael on the other hand was a nervous wreck. She was so afraid she would pass out. It's a habit of her's.

Cool shop. Even cooler red leather sofa.

Finally the time arrived and Dan the Tat Man commenced the needlework on Rachael's foot. She reached out for something to hold. She wanted a pillow, but grabbed my purse and held on for dear life.

Priceless:

The finished product. Nothing fancy. It took longer to design it with him than it did for him to ink it. We didn't want calligraphy or scrolls or swirls. His cursive just didn't look right. We must have had him revise it 5 times. Bet your ass we did. It's permanent after all, isn't it? Finally I wrote out the name, and we used his "T" and my "urner". Loving it!!

OK, my turn. Um, yeah, my brother Greg was wrong. The foot definitely hurts worse. It hurt like a sumanabitch! I don't remember the back being so painful and the back took an hour. This was 4 minutes - at most.

My foot:

Dan the Tat Man:

Sisters for life.

4 siblings down, a couple to go.

Check another one off my "39 Things" list. Total coincidence that we went on my actual birthday. I wasn't putting off till the last minute. Really I wasn't.